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Tuesday Options Recap
India Markets Tuesday Wrap-Up
5 Stocks That Could Collapse In 2012
Clearwire: LightSquared, Earnings, And Auctions Confirm The Story Is Intact
Options Portfolio Update: Time For Major Changes
Dow 13,000? Try That Priced In Gold
Colorado to Make Gold and Silver Currency
$600 Gold and $400 Silver
Singapore: Tax-Free Bullion
Gold and Silver Stocks Wild Ride Ahead: Greg McCoach
Bob Chapman - Financial Survival
Greek Default Risk ‘Will Keep Coming Back’ Despite Deal
Talk about getting screwed. $500,000,000.00 gone, just like that.
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US Dollar To Resume Downtrend?
Morning Outlook from the Trade Desk 02/21/12
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Rising Gold Got You Down?
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WATCH: The Reformed Broker
WATCH: Gold & Silver Survey
Silver Could Double by Year End
Two Dead: $500K Gold Coin Collection Stolen
Rising Gold Price Got You Down? Call the BIS at 1-800-RIG-MKTS
Alasdair Macleod: The destruction of savings by inflation
A new kind of hyperinflation: Zimbabwe hikes mining fees by as much as 8,000%
In Search of Silver
Buffet Mischaracterizes Gold’s Bull Market

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:43 AM PST

By Frederic Ruffy:

Sentiment

Market action has turned mixed late-Tuesday. Global equity markets showed unenthusiastic reaction to news Greece has secured a second bailout. In fact, Greek stock market averages slipped and fell 4 percent Tuesday. However, the euro has been displaying strength this week and was recently near 1.323 against the buck. Stability in the Eurozone currency possibly helped ease some of the recent anxiety about the debt crisis. Meanwhile, the domestic economic calendar is light this week and holds no data until existing home sales Wednesday morning. The earnings news was mixed. While Walmart (WMT) weighed down the Dow with a 4.3 percent post-earnings skid, Macy's (M), Home Depot (HD), and Barnes and Noble (BKS) are up on the day. But some players are growing concerned about energy costs after crude bubbled beyond $106 amid supply cuts from Iran. Gold is reacting as well, up $31 to $1757 an ounce. CBOE

Complete Story »

India Markets Tuesday Wrap-Up

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:37 AM PST

By Equitymaster:

Indian stock markets witnessed a strong session today. The indices began the day on a positive note. Strong buying activity throughout the session caused indices to scale higher. The momentum was sustained in the final hour of trade as well and the indices closed well above the dotted line. While the BSE-Sensex closed higher by around 139 points (up 0.8%), the NSE-Nifty closed higher by around 43 points (up 0.8%). The BSE Mid cap and the BSE Small cap also did well to notch gains of 0.9% and 1.2% respectively. Gains were largely seen in rate sensitive stocks such as realty and consumer durables.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have opened weak. The rupee was trading at Rs 49.21 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Banks are seeing continued tightness in liquidity despite the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI)
Complete Story »

5 Stocks That Could Collapse In 2012

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:24 AM PST

By Bill Maurer:

Every year, we see a bunch of big name blowups, whether it be to accounting issues, lack of growth, earnings warnings, or whatever. 2011 was not different in that respect. We saw several big name blowups. Netflix (NFLX) collapsed after raising prices and forcing customers to leave. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) plunged after David Einhorn set a short campaign against the stock and then it missed revenue expectations. Sodastream (SODA) fell when the company's murky guidance worried investors, and let's not forget Diamond Foods, whose financial reporting issues crushed the stock.

But 2011 is behind us. We are almost two months into the new year. Green Mountain and Netflix have rallied back, showing impressive gains after great earnings reports. Could they collapse again in 2012? Sure, it is possible. But they don't make this list, not at this point anyway. Here are five stocks that could collapse in 2012.

Complete Story »

Clearwire: LightSquared, Earnings, And Auctions Confirm The Story Is Intact

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:14 AM PST

By Helix Investment Management:

When we first began writing about Clearwire (CLWR), we noted that this company was extraordinarily misunderstood, and if investors took the time to truly analyze its financials, its assets and its competitive position, they would see that this is a company that deserves a far higher share price than what is currently being given by the market. Recent events have confirmed that the story is fully intact, and Clearwire's competitive position has greatly improved in the past week. Below we profile recent developments that have impacted Clearwire.

The Collapse of LightSquared

On February 16, it was announced that the FCC would officially block LightSquared from launching its new wireless network, something we had said would happen in our last Jan. 24 article on Clearwire. The opposition to LightSquared was simply too much, we noted at the time. And even with LightSquared hiring lawyers to examine its legal options, we do

Complete Story »

Options Portfolio Update: Time For Major Changes

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:01 AM PST

By Bill Maurer:

Last year, I started a theoretical options portfolio on this site that was aimed at traders and investors that were willing to take some risk. Overall, the portfolio has done quite well. Of the first three positions I closed, two put sales produced large credits, while one put sale produced a small gain.

When I started the portfolio, most of the positions were targeted at February or March expiration. Now that we are close to expiration for most of these positions, it is time to make some changes. For those that are new, here is the portfolio, before changes, and the starting prices of each position.

Position	Date	Type	Strike	Action	Price
Apple (AAPL)	7/20	Put	$425	Sell	$33.45
Interdigital (IDCC)	3/16	Call	$55	Buy	$4.80
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)	2/17	Put	$170	Sell	$12.85
Molycorp (MCP)	3/16	Call	$22.50	Buy	$3.65
Amazon (AMZN)	7/20	Put	$170	Sell	$11.75
Boston

Complete Story »

Dow 13,000? Try That Priced In Gold

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 05:32 AM PST

By Plan B Economics:

Today the DJIA index (DIA) touched 13,000 for the first time since May 2008. Mainstream media has printed articles suggesting we will again witness a flood of retail investors throwing money at the markets now that we've broken a psychological barrier.

At the same time, we have analysts arguing that Dow 13,000 is a meaningless number. I tend to agree.

Quite simply, some of the biggest stock market booms in history were coupled with the some of the biggest currency devaluations in history. The Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe are two examples that come to mind.

I'm not saying that the US is anywhere close to the Weimar Republic or other hyperinflationary environments (at least, not yet), but the same principles apply. With trillions of dollars injected by central banks into the global financial markets over the past few years, I can't help but think these stock market gains are somewhat

Complete Story »

Colorado to Make Gold and Silver Currency

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 04:58 AM PST

Colo. Bill Would Legalize Gold, Silver Currency

from CBSNews.com:

DENVER – Colorado State Senators will consider a bill that would allow people to use gold and silver as currency.

A similar measure is already in place in Utah and is being considered in 12 other states, reports CBS Station KCNC.

Supporters are concerned about the strength of the U.S. dollar.

The sponsors of the bill say they are concerned about the strength of the U.S. dollar, public debt, and currency devaluation.

"Over history just about every country in the world that has had a serious debt crisis has intentionally inflated their currency," Sen. Kent Lambert, R, told KCNC's Michelle Griego.

¤ Yesterday in Gold and Silver

Well, here's my column for Tuesday...such as it is.

With the U.S. markets closed for President's Day, the gold market was but a shadow of what it normally is. Volume and price action was non-existent.

The gold price did jump up about twelve bucks right at the open, but that appeared to be mostly dollar related...as the dollar gapped down at the open on Sunday night...and both gold and silver responded as one would expect.

Gold finished the Monday trading day at $1,734.10 spot...up $10.30. Net volume was around 35,000 contracts.

The silver price also gapped up at the open...and the high of the day was in around 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time. From there, the price got sold off about 30 cents..with its low coming minutes before 11:00 a.m. in London. From that low, silver crawled back almost to its high of the day by the close of trading at 1:15 p.m. Eastern time.

Silver closed at $33.61 spot...up 33 cents from Friday's close. Net volume was only around 4,000 contracts.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the dollar index gapped down about 35 basis points right at the open in New York at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday night...and then dropped another 30 basis points starting shortly after 10:00 a.m. in London.

Ninety minutes later, the dollar had pretty much bottomed out...and then began to rise shortly before 11:00 a.m. Eastern time...and closed within an eyelash of 79.00...which was down about 40 basis points from Friday's close.

With the New York and Toronto equity markets both closed yesterday, there were was no HUI or SSI yesterday.

To go along with that, there was no Daily Delivery Report, changes in GLD and SLV, U.S. Mint sales, nor report from the Comex-approved depositories.

Silver analyst Ted Butler had a few things to say in his weekend commentary to paying subscribers...and here are three free paragraphs...

"Conditions in the wholesale physical silver market still appear tight, although retail demand may be cooling off. There is still unusually high turnover or movement of metal into and out from the COMEX approved silver warehouses, as the total level of inventory was mostly unchanged for the week. Although there is little sign of widespread attention to this silver movement, it still resonates with me. That's because, up until a year or so ago, such consistent turnover didn't exist."

"The vision of daily large truck deliveries, being loaded and unloaded in and around New York City (not the most traffic-friendly environment) is one I often think about. Having some familiarity with that NYC traffic, I can't help but ask - who would subject themselves to that experience unnecessarily? What's so important about moving metal so feverishly in those traffic conditions and congestion? The most plausible explanation to me is that most of the near 130 million oz already there is unavailable and new stuff must be brought in to satisfy consistent withdrawal demands. Again, this turnover pattern didn't exist over the past quarter century."

"Sure, there were times over the past 25 years when many tens of millions and even a hundred million ounces came into and out from the COMEX silver warehouses over varying periods of time. But I don't ever remember this daily in and out on the COMEX. Also adding to the signs of physical tightness was the withdrawal of 3.5 million oz from the big silver ETF, SLV, this week. Price patterns and trading volume did not suggest that the withdrawal was due to plain-vanilla investor liquidation. The most plausible explanation was that SLV shares were converted to metal and that metal was removed because it was needed somewhere more urgently than in the London warehouse of the custodian. This tends to confirm the tightness scenario, as does the 600 thousand oz withdrawal from the big Swiss silver ETF, ZKB."

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation updated their website with January's data yesterday...and it showed that, officially, they never purchased any gold during the month. They didn't purchase any gold in January of 2010, either. Here's Nick's most excellent graph.

Here's a chart that Washington state reader S.A. sent me last night. It shows all the housing busts of note back to the Great Depression...and compares them to the one going on today.

The only reason that I have a column today is to post the long list of stories that I've accumulated over the weekend.

Gold made a rally attempt to $1,750...and silver tried to blast above the $34 price ceiling...but both were turned back by the usual suspects in the usual way.

Nomura's Bob Janjuah: Markets now so rigged by govt. that there's little to say. Eric Sprott: Silver Will Become a Currency Again. Simplicity: Grant Williams. Gold Speaks Up: Casey Daily Dispatch

¤ Critical Reads

SEC Surrender Continues With Bear Bankers Deal

Once again, the Securities and Exchange Commission has embarrassed itself. Last week it let off the hook two hotshot former Wall Street hedge-fund managers who lost a bundle for the investors trusting them to manage their money responsibly.

Instead of going to court on Feb. 13 and laying bare the sordid facts for a jury, at the last minute the SEC settled a civil suit against Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin of the now defunct Bear Stearns Co. These were the hedge-fund managers who five years ago loaded up their two funds with $1.6 billion dollars of lousy mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations, leveraged them to the hilt and, when the market for the securities soured in July 2007, liquidated the funds.

The price the SEC extracted from Cioffi and Tannin as part of a settlement -- after previously telling the court it intended to go to trial -- was a mere pittance, "chump change," according to the federal judge in Brooklyn overseeing the case. Cioffi, who made $22 million in 2005 and 2006 at Bear Stearns, will pay just $800,000 and agree to a three-year ban from the securities industry. Tannin, who was paid $4.4 million in his last two years at Bear, will pay $250,000 and agree to a two-year ban. Neither has to admit to wrongdoing. The agreement will deter absolutely no one from trying to pull off a similar stunt.

Crime definitely pays. This story appeared on the Bloomberg website yesterday morning...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for sending it along. The link is here.

View full GSD edition

In Alabama, a County That Fell Off the Financial Cliff

One county jail here is so crowded that some inmates sleep on the floor, while the other county jail, a few miles down the road, sits empty...as there is no money to run the second one anymore.

There is no money for a lot of things around here, not since Jefferson County, population 658,000, went bankrupt last fall. There is no money for holiday D.U.I. checkpoints, litter patrols or overtime pay at the courthouse. None for crews to pull weeds or pick up road kill — not even when, as happened recently, an unlucky cow was hit near the town of Wylam.

This is life today in Jefferson County — Bankrupt, U.S.A. For all the talk in Washington about taxes and deficits, here is a place where government finances, and government itself, have simply broken down. The county, which includes the city of Birmingham, is drowning under $4 billion in debt, the legacy of a big sewer project and corrupt financial dealings that sent 17 people to prison.

This very interesting, but very depressing 3-page essay, appeared in the Saturday edition of The New York Times...and I thank reader Phil Barlett for sharing it with us. The link is here.

View full GSD edition

Corporatocracy: Ron Paul says US 'slipping into fascism'

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul slammed America's system of governance at a rally in Kansas City, saying businesses and government are pushing the country into twenty-first century fascism.

But before you start picturing fair-skinned, blue-eyed CEOs and bureaucrats running amok and with their right arms held high, calm down. What the outspoken Texas Republican meant was fascist corporatism – an economic model most prominently seen in Mussolini's Italy of the 1920s to the 1940s. Fascist economic corporatism involved government and private management of full sectors of the economy – which Paul says is par for the course in today's America.

"We've slipped away from a true republic," Paul told thousands of his supporters at the rally. "Now we're slipping into a fascist system where it's a combination of government, big business and authoritarian rule, and the suppression of the individual rights of each and every American citizen."

The presidential hopeful echoed words already once delivered to the American people – by their president. Dwight Eisenhower said, in his farewell address to the nation, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

It's beyond strange to read these paragraphs, because they were posted over at the Russia Today website...and that's where Roy Stephens found this story on Sunday. It's worth skimming...and the link is here.

View full GSD edition

Drones Set Sights on U.S. Skies

A new federal law, signed by the president last Tuesday, compels the Federal Aviation Administration to allow drones to be used for all sorts of commercial endeavors — from selling real estate and dusting crops, to monitoring oil spills and wildlife, even shooting Hollywood films. Local police and emergency services will also be freer to send up their own drones.

But while businesses, and drone manufacturers especially, are celebrating the opening of the skies to these unmanned aerial vehicles, the law raises new worries about how much detail the drones will capture about lives down below — and what will be done with that information. Safety concerns like midair collisions and property damage on the ground are also an issue.

American courts have generally permitted surveillance of private property from public airspace. But scholars of privacy law expect that the likely proliferation of drones will force Americans to re-examine how much surveillance they are comfortable with.

This story appeared in The New York Times on Friday...and is another Phil Barlett offering. The link is here.

View full GSD edition

Nomura's Bob Janjuah: Markets now so rigged by govt. that there's little to say

Yesterday, Zero Hedge published the latest market letter written by Nomura International's investment strategist Bob Janjuah, who sounds quite a lot like GATA: "Bond and currency markets are now so rigged by policy makers that I have no meaningful insights to offer, other than my bubble fears." Maybe in another century or two observations about market rigging by government will become actual news stories in the mainstream financial news media. But for the time being market reality is confined to a few obscure Internet sites.

The original story was posted over at the businessinsider.com website yesterday...and I thank reader George Findlay for bringing it to my attention...and Chris Powell for writing the above introduction. The link is here.

View full GSD edition

Alasdair Macleod: The destruction of savings by inflation

Writing for GoldMoney, economist and former banker Alasdair Macleod explains today how interest on savings in the modern fiat money system is more than wiped out by inflation, that the resulting impoverishment of pensioners will impose far greater welfare costs on government than are understood now, and that savers would do far better under a "sound money" system.

I borrowed the story...and the above introduction...from a GATA release yesterday. The story is posted over at the goldmoney.com website...and the link is here.

View full GSD edition

Alasdair Macleod: The destruction of savings by inflation

Posted: 20 Feb 2012 09:12 PM PST

Alasdair Macleod: The destruction of savings by inflation

I borrowed the story...and the above introduction...from a GATA release yesterday. The story is posted over at the goldmoney.com website...and the link is here.

A new kind of hyperinflation: Zimbabwe hikes mining fees by as much as 8,000%

Posted: 20 Feb 2012 09:12 PM PST

A new kind of hyperinflation: Zimbabwe hikes mining fees by as much as 8,000%

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines says the government's hike of pre-exploration fees for the majority of minerals – by as much as 8,000% – will cripple the industry.

According to Reuters a raft of other charges include "registration of platinum and diamond claims going up to $2.5 million and $5 million" and "annual ground rentals ranging from $500 per hectare for chrome to $3,000 per hectare for diamonds."

NewsDay reports the industry estimates the hikes in fees could cost the mining sector up The country's 2012 budget also calls for royalty increases of 7.5% for gold and 10% for platinum.

In Search of Silver

Posted: 20 Feb 2012 09:03 PM PST

Silver has been its normal restless self this last year, but holders of silver bullion might not feel adequately rewarded. The metal of the moon has witnessed soaring highs and vicious chops, but the silver price crucially sits only a few percent higher.

Buffet Mischaracterizes Gold’s Bull Market

Posted: 20 Feb 2012 09:00 PM PST

Once again, someone famous and once again Warren Buffet is dismissing Gold. In comparing it to the bubbles in housing and Internet stocks, he feels he'll ultimately be vindicated. In his annual letter to shareholders, Buffet trashed Gold as a bubble that is being driven by fear of other asset classes. He believes that those who buy today only do so because they believe the "ranks of the fearful will grow."

Fear is a word that is tossed around all too often when ignorant commentators and analysts have to justify a rise in Gold. They can't say its a bull market. They can't say its supply and demand. They can't explain the fundamentals. Fear is an incomplete explanation.

Fear should refer to fear or concern about the value of reserve currencies, not other asset classes. This is not rocket science. The developing world understands the value of Gold as various currencies under the weight of financially weak governments lost significant value throughout the 20th Century. Do you think the Pound or the Dollar has a bad track record? Consider the history of currency destruction in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. It is multiples worse.

Generally speaking Buffet is right: stocks or businesses are a better investment than Gold. They make sense. They produce something, they earn profits. They grow. Even considering the survivorship bias, the trend for stocks historically is always higher. Gold is a speculation and always will be. However, Buffet fails to note the long-term cyclicality between stocks and Gold. The inverse relationship is clear and Gold's time is now.

The current case for Gold is all to simple. The leading nations of the world must monetize current and future debts to prevent a potentially catastrophic deflationary depression. In a debt crisis, currencies lose substantial value. We are in a global debt crisis and ground zero is the developed world.

But Gold is a bubble! It's gone up 10 years in a row and the public is in. Right?

Did you know the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1985-1999 only had one year in the red and it was only a decline of 4%? Did you know the global allocation to Gold and gold-related investments is barely more than 1%? Furthermore, if Gold were in a bubble, we wouldn't be seeing the large cap stocks trading at 12x trailing earnings (see GDX) nor would we see junior exploration companies trading at multi-year lows relative to Gold.

Clearly Buffet doesn't understand Gold. He doesn't mention its appeal as an inflation hedge or as a currency. He falsely assumes its rise is a result of only wild speculation and a disdain for everything else. He has no idea how under-owned Gold is nor is he aware of the valuations of the shares.

However, you can't fault his reasoning for wanting to own stocks. He believes he can invest in companies that will benefit from inflation or continue to earn profits that will outpace inflation. He has investments in energy companies and agriculture companies. To some degree, those companies are affected by commodity prices. Why not consider an investment in Silver Wheaton or Franco Nevada? There has to be someone in Buffet's camp that is intrigued by the precious metals royalty companies. They don't have mining risk. They earn profits and pay a dividend.

In the long run Buffet will be right. Gold and gold shares will probably flame out in spectacular fashion. The public will get killed. However, this is closer to ten years away than one or two years in the future. Many were calling stocks a bubble in 1995. Not 1999. 1995! That was when the bubble was just getting started. The next breakout in the gold equities and the metals themselves will serve as a recognition move to the masses. It will be a springboard to an eventual bubble. This is a very volatile, cyclical sector so one must do Buffet-like due diligence in picking stocks. If you'd be interested in professional guidance in uncovering the best mining stocks for 2012, then we invite you to learn more about our service.

Good Luck!

Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT
Jordan@TheDailyGold.com